The following is a collection of the testimonies of this week’s Atlanta missions team. Through ministries in the parks, trains, daycares and streets, we saw that God walks ahead of us, preparing the people we’ll meet, and often giving them the words to encourage us!
Catherine Smith
When I went to the park to evangelize to the people there, I met a lady named Melanie. I was nervous, but I trusted in God and started talking to her. It started off very casual. We talked about the weather, birthdays, etc, and then about her family. When talking about her only son she began to tear up. However she quickly wiped them away. We continued to talk, and once I thought that she was getting more open and comfortable with me, we began to talk about how she had gotten into this situation as a homeless person
One word; “Drugs” brought her tears back. She told me that one night she was so consumed that one night while she was high she got into a horrible [car] accident at a warehouse she was at in order to get drugs. Due to the accident she broke her pelvis bone, but that didn’t stop her from her need for drugs. She crawled on her hands, but didn’t make it very far because she had accidentally set her feet on fire, from which she suffered 3rd degree burns, and lost consciousness. Tears were falling as rain as she was telling me this story.
I said to her; “So God saved your life.” (Earlier I had found out that she was a Christian.) She nodded and said that if it wasn’t for Him, she would’ve been gone a long time ago. God really broke my heart for Melanie as I was hearing her story. She’s been sober for 18 months, and that put a smile on both of our faces. What touched me the most was how kind, beautiful and giving she was, or still is. She made me realize how lucky I was to have a home and family and friends that love me. I realized that I should be beyond thankful for what I have. I prayed for her and she was so thankful and I was so touched by God’s love for her and her ability to be so open and loving despite the situation she was in.
The next day I got to see her again. As soon as I went up to her, a smile appeared on her face. I talked to her once again and prayed for her once again. We hugged each other multiple times and she told me that it’s such a pleasure to see me and that she loves me. I was shocked that it’s only been two days but she loves me. I didn’t know what to say… then I realized that I love her too. She’s my sister in Christ and I really truly do love her. I am extremely thankful that God put me in her life and vice versa. I will continue to pray for her, just as I promised, and I will never forget her this amazing experience or God’s love for all His children.
Justine Chong
This mission trip was a really great idea for me because even though I was really scared of homeless people, I wasn’t. It doesn’t make sense but it does to me. The people that we met were very nice but we got rejected a couple times, and we all knew that it would happen sometimes along the way. I just need to have more faith and hope with the Lord. I didn’t expect all this to happen all at once. It sorta overwhelmed me. The people we met throughout the week had amazing stories, good and bad, but we pray that we remember each and every one of them and pray for them.
We made a cool hip-hop/rap song out of a verse from the Bible. (Luke 4:5?)
I didn’t think evangelizing would be that hard for me, but I kinda got the hang of it by the end of the week. It was really fun and scary at the same time. This has been a really great experience for me.
Hannah Park
On the second day of our mission trip we went on a train evangelism. We boarded a random subway in a group of 6 ~7 people and started to talk to strangers. At one point during this time, I sat on a chair and left the one next to me open on purpose. I prayed to God that whomever He wanted me to talk to, He would sit the person on that seat. For the next two stations, every seat around me got filled, but the seat next to me remained empty.
On the 3rd stop, a man with two beautiful paintings in his hands boarded the train. He sat next to me, and my first thoughts were: “God, is this really the person you want me to talk to?” From his appearance – the way he smelled, how he dressed, and how he acted – I concluded that he was homeless. I was reluctant to talk to him because I was still a little nervous and afraid of speaking with the homeless people.
I asked God once more if he really was the person, and God answered me positively with silence. Submitting to God’s will, I began to talk to him about his paintings. I told him about how God had specifically prepared our meeting, and he began to tell me more about himself. Unlike my assumption, he was not homeless. He had bought the paintings to decorate his house. Now that I think about it, if I had given more thought about the paintings I would have known myself, but I was quick to judgment. He’d had very decent jobs previously in his life. He even had worked for the former president Jimmy Carter. He sincerely believed in God. When I asked for his prayer request he said that ‘just to live today, tomorrow, this week and the next week” is his desire.
His simple prayer convicted my heart of the wrong assumptions I had made about him. God really taught me to be careful in judging others by outlooks.
Joseph H. Choi
This was my first mission trip. I personally believe that during this mission, I truly learned quite a bit about what it means to be a missionary and listen to the voice of the Lord. In fact, pretty much everything that I learned can be outlined through my ATL [“Ask The Lord”] (with some other details. I received 2 passages from the Lord during my ATL. Both times the Lord stirred in my heart a wish to look through His word, and He guided me to share these passages. One, is Romans 2:1-13. Verses 1-11 taught me to not judge others, but to encourage them to be more Christ-like, as well as to not be discouraged by others. Humans simply do not have enough wisdom to judge each other, and often when you evangelize, you may become discouraged by those you speak with.
My own experiences doing such matured me to be the love of why we do what we do. For we cannot let the ignorant perish due to our own laziness, for then it will be out responsibility for them being condemned (Ezekiel 3:17-19) and we would not have obeyed Jesus’ last and greatest commandment. John 17 is a prayer that Jesus makes for himself, his disciples, and for all believers. This taught me about the importance of prayer, for it is through prayer that we hear God’s voice, and make missions a success, for me, out fellow Christians, and future believers all need God’s blessing and grace.
Time and time again, God answered my prayers. I got to see His power in action when one of our leaders just broke the heart of someone we met to love God. Then God, as well as another leader, led me to the circumstance when in one day, I prayed for the well being of two women who truly needed out prayers. God truly does exceed out expectations! Thank You God! I went into this mission unsure, and came out just a bit more experienced in doing His work. I can’t wait until God calls me to His work again and molds me into something better once more.
Lauren Hughes
God personally led me to Atlanta. Earlier this year I did a study on Nineveh. Jonah really didn’t want to go, I really didn’t want to be a missionary. But I had given everything to God, including my future. Surrendering is scary, but missions is my Nineveh, so I had to go.
I’ve been blessed, I prayed with people on the streets, I’ve shared God’s love on trains. I’ve grown spiritually. Now I see God everywhere. I see He has a will for everything. The other day I even got excited about wallpaper! We’re refinishing a church bathroom with wallpaper to become a nursery. I was assigned to paint bathrooms. I’ve dealt with bathroom wallpaper briefly and it’s absolutely terrible. This wallpaper came off in huge strips. I’ve never peeled off so much at once before. I was amazed to see God use wallpaper in His will. But he wanted that nursery, because God loves the children. Matthew 19:14: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” We must be child like in out faith and follow Him. Do as He says. Go to Nineveh when He tells us to go. We are His children and His will gets done through us. I’m glad God is using me. And now I see He uses me in everything I do. I’ve sown seeds for Christ.
Eric Chun
I met a mid 20’s African American man just lying in the park on a beautiful day under the shade of a the tree. We were treated with time, but Steve was not an ordinary man. I am not sure to this day if he was homeless but his attitude towards us was one of the most amazing Christ-like characteristics about him, whether he was a Christian or not. Waiting in the park in downtown Atlanta was a place of escape as the day was cooler from the downpour just before. He was waiting for his birth certificate and this made me think of him and maybe a possible conflict in the past with his family. I will need to continue to pray for this man, because I believe he has seen some wretched things in his past, and with Christ’s love he will be able to forgive and love.
I met a newly American Mexican worker on the subway, the day our church’s Yucatan team left for Mexico. My mother and Sarah (the Mexican worker) were alike in their broken English. Back at home I used to always yell at my mom because I could not understand her, as well as her not being able to understand me. Thi s brought me an epiphany from God, to treat my mother much more better as her health has been fluctuating. My mother is arguably one of the sweetest and most generous and I need to treat her much better.
Steve Pak
1. There’s an adult that has the name and the same place where I was born.
2. Got rejected for the first time.
John Kim
This was my first missions trip. Although I served as a driver I wanted to experience a real mission trip. So I worked hard at Ms. Rosa’s church and went out to the park and subway to have a chance to tell people about Jesus. Especially feeding ministry was a great experience for me as a disciple of Jesus to realize a kind of practical task that God wants me to do.
I am seeing the banner on the wall at the main sanctuary at Eagles’ Nest Church saying; “Taking God’s love to the streets.” The phrase does not just sound like a stereotype to me tonight. Thanks Lord. Praise God because you gave me this chance and used me for your kingdom and righteousness.
Joy Kim
The first day we went to the park, I met a man named Willie. He was also the first person I talked to. He was actually very open and nice. I was shocked, but also thankful he didn’t reject us. He was a very strong believer in Christ, or at least it seemed like it and he said He was. I kind of felt like through him, God was speaking to me along with Mr. Sean Choi, Catherine Choi and others. He kept saying he never did anything bad or hurt anybody and that he knew God was going to take care of him and bless him for that. Willie really encouraged me that day and I know God will transform his life even more and will do so many great things with his life. He encouraged me that as long as I do my part for God, that I will be able to trust in God 200% and that He will take care of me and bless me.
I think now because I spoke to Willie I know a little more about God’s greatness! I truly hope and know that God will put many other great people like Willie, so that I may experience God’s grace a lot more. Even people who reject me, I will be even more encouraged to do more for God. (Psalm 138:6-8) Praise God, He is so good! (Psalm 86:11-15) (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Yoon Jung Na
In this missions trip, I realized that God sends us [not just] to non-believers but to believers also in order to encourage them, strengthen them and challenge them. We are called to look after each other’s needs and interests. As the body of Christ we are called to care for each other, protecting, strengthening and healing each other.
I met a man in Centennial Park, he was listening to our songs that were singing praise songs for quite awhile. He caught my eye, so I went and talked to him. He was looking for a job, and living in a shelter for a few months. At first, he said everything was fine, but as we talked some more about his life, he was about to give up hope on getting a job, and on God who didn’t seem to answer his prayer.
He said he accepted Jesus in prison a few months ago. I told him God will answer his prayer and provide him a job, and that God loves him so much so as to give away His Son to die on a cross. I talked about hope, faith, and the nearness of God; How much he means to Jesus, and how near God is to him. He listened very attentively and read the verses when I asked him to. We prayed together that God would give him a job and the strength to hold on to God, and the hope in Him. When we finished prayer, He said he already felt better and I smiled. He promised he would read the Bible more. He left soon after. I pray that God would give him strength and faith to hold on to the hope in God.
Sean Choi
I still miss and remember Willie. We met at Woodruff park Park on Monday afternoon. Willie said he is a Christian, but as other homeless friends , absolutely he has many complaints and rejections as well. Our team prayed very hard for Willie and introduced Eagles Nest Church. We all hope that Willie wants to keep his Christianity with Jesus Christianity as always. I saw Willie’s eye was without madness while we prayed together. On Thursday morning, I met Willie waiting for breakfast outside Eagle’s Nest. Willie was wearing the same red hat with the little black bag. When I came to say ‘Hi’ to Willie, I saw a brightness on his face for the first time like ones of the old friends faces I knew for a long time.
I talked to God; “Bless this gentleman, as a person who can drive a car by himself.” I looked at Willie, running away from Eagle’s Nest, even if he had not place to go in a hurry. Thanks God, pour your blessings upon Willie and walk with him in every moment of his daily life.
Ki Hong
I believe God has made each one of us with a purpose in life. Although many different people are born all over the world and worship many other religions, I personally think that our God has planned out everything for us. We may suffer from illness, live a sinful life, and worship different God, but in the end, the resolution is always our Lord, our one and only savior. He may have planned difficulties and troubles that we are about to encounter, but He WILL lead us and walk us through those hardships and finally reveal himself before us so that we will fall on our knees and praise Him.
So whenever I experience hardships, I know my God and I know that He will rescue me the way He planned for us. We will never get lost like wandering sheep because He is watching over us and guiding us through the darkness. God – He is truly amazing!
